Behemoth's What?

The book of Job is as wonderfully simple as it is complex.

Simple because it is so straight up.  Because it tells us things point blank.  Because it doesn't require an advanced degree to grasp its point.  That Job is a perfect man for instance.  That there is no one in the world like Job.  That Job is the apple of God's eye.  That something is bothering Job after everything he has is taken away.

Complex because it is so unclear.  Because it tells us things so mysteriously.  Because its point, though simple, is far from easy to grasp.  The meaning of Job's final words for instance.  The intention of God's speeches.  The advice of Job's wife.  ("Curse God and die" or "Bless God and die"?  You just can't say from the words she uses alone!)

Within single passages of the book's sweeping verses there are singular instances of complexity that do not deny the simplicity of the book but that enrich it and challenge us to discern it more deeply.

The book of Job is wisdom literature.  It is simple, as wisdom should be.  For every man and woman to grasp.  But also complex, as wisdom is also.  Something that every man and woman needs to prove worthy of.  The book of Job calls for our discernment and the receiving of wisdom in us.

For instance, within God's majestic speech* in praise of Behemoth we find a single verse and word that raises eyebrows and begs us to discern.  The point is simple but the deeper meaning is unclear:

"His tail sways like a cedar," God says.  Or at least, this is how the common translations go.

God's point in this verse is quite simply to describe Behemoth in all of its glory to Job.  "Look at its tail!" God says. "What a tail!"  But closer inspection reveals more to God's words than that.  Although it is impossible to say for certain the original reader of this passage wouldn't see God pointing out Behemoth's tail but penis.

God is praising Behemoth by pointing out its cedar-like erection.

"Look at Behemoth," God says.  "Look at how potent it is!  Look at how its stiffened manhood sways in the wind!"

God is celebrating Behemoth's sex organ.  For its potency.  For its firmness.  For its erection.    That is quite simply what God is doing.  But why would God do such a thing?  Why would God point to this appendage over others?

The key to opening up the entire book is in this word alone.  If we go back to the beginning of Job's story the deeper meaning becomes clear: Job is a perfect man God says.  Job is perfect and upright God says. 

In the beginning Job is akin to a massive erection swaying in the wind.  Job is potent.  Job is firm.  Job is standing tall.

But this is only in the beginning!  By chapter 3 Job is down in the dirt lamenting his human condition.  By chapter 3 Job has lost all sense of potency as a human being.  By chapter 3 Job is no longer upright.

Thus God tries to cure Job of his impotence by reminding him that he was made along with Behemoth.  That Behemoth, and Behemoth's mighty erection, are a reminder to Job of his own potential glory as a human being.

Thanks be to Job.

*"Job 40:15 Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. 16 What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! 17 His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. 18 His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. 19 He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. 20 The hills bring him their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. 21 Under the lotus plants he lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. 22 The lotuses conceal him in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround him. 23 When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. 24 Can anyone capture him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose?"

Remembering our Hope in the Resurrection

Today is Easter Monday.  Today is the day that the Lord was raised.

However there is a problem with our relationship to the resurrection of Jesus Christ:  Sitting so far away from it in history it is difficult for us to take it as fact.

We are doubtful that the resurrection ever happened because it happened so long ago.  Because it hasn't happened ever since.  Because we have no evidence to say that it ever happened at all.

As a result our belief in the resurrection has fallen on hard times.  Along with it the Christian faith.  We no longer take seriously the resurrection of Christ or what this means for our own life.  That resurrection is possible for us too.  That we are so special that we might receive such a destiny.

I believe that the solution to the problem of our having dismissed the resurrection is reconnecting to the time that came before.  To the time before Christ rose from the dead and Saint Paul proclaimed the mystery throughout the world.

In this time it was not belief in the resurrection that people had but hope.  There was no question of whether or not the resurrection should be believed but whether if we had hope in it.

Before Christ rose from the dead all that people could do is hope:  Hope that such an eventuality could come about.  Hope that all things are possible for God and that some of us deserve this ultimate sign of our worth.  (Life!)

But ever since the resurrection happened it's been about the belief.  There's no need to hope anymore because it has already happened.  God has already shown what God can do and humankind has been proven in its (potential) worth.

There is a shift from hope to belief.  From a time when only hope could be had to a time after it happens and what is called for is belief.

It itself this shift is not a bad thing.  The problem is that we have since lost the belief, and we have long since lost touch with the hope that came before the belief.

We have forgotten the time when all that we had was hope.  Because the resurrection is a hopeful thing.  Something that I desperately hope more than anything else.

So this Easter Monday let us remember not our belief in the resurrection but our hope.  Let us restore our hope that such a wonderful thing is possible whether it happened or not to the Lord.

Thanks be to Job.

Clothing and Nudity on a Biblical Scale

Clothing is a subtle yet powerful theme in the Bible.  So is nudity.

For instance, Adam and Eve's nudity is explicitly referenced in Genesis.  It is also their nudity that they realise and try to cover up.  And finally, in this short story alone, the pair is given hide clothing by God as they leave the garden.  (As a farewell gift or a mark of their shame?)

Noah too, only a few chapters later, has an episode involving nudity.  He got drunk one day and passed out naked in his tent.  His son Ham then stumbled in upon him and was cursed for it.  Not only Ham but his entire progeny.  (Why such a harsh penalty?!)  Ham's brothers had to walk in backwards after Ham to cover Noah with a blanket...

From here the theme of nudity and clothing persists in the Bible, right up to the book of Revelation where those who remain in the end are not naked but dressed in white robes.  Here the chosen people are not covered by (shameful?) hides and blankets but clothes that remind us of the original light of creation.  Or better yet,of  Joseph's magnificent coat given to him as a gift from his father to bespeak Joseph's glory.

Clothing and nudity is a subtle yet powerful theme from beginning to end.

And that's just it, or what I believe is one of the most fundamental patterns of the Bible: the peculiar movement that constantly emerges there from being naked in the beginning to being clothed in glory through grace at the end.

"Naked I came from the womb," declared Job, "and naked I will remain!"  But in faith and truth Job is not naked in the end.  Rather, like those who remain at the end in Revelation, he is clothed in glory through the grace of God.  He is not naked but decked in richer and more beautiful clothes than ever before...

It is the same pattern in the book of Job that holds on the broader Biblical scale.  From Adam and Eve to those who are dressed in the white robes in the end times.  Again and again the movement from being naked to being clothed in glory through grace emerges in the Bible.

Even the hides given to Adam and Eve and the blanket placed upon Noah fit this holy pattern.  Despite their shameful connotations.

Thanks be to Job.

Introduction to the Book of Job

I've studied the book of Job for some time now.  I'm also constantly praising the man whose name that it bears.

But I've yet to really talk about the book or the man.  At least not here.  So this will be my introduction.

I think a good point of entry is why the book is so great.  I think this is partly answered by why Job is so great.  Understanding the glory of Job is key to opening up the book in all of its glory.

In regards to the man then, I would say that Job is great because he shows us what we are made of.  He shows us what a human life made of dust and invigorated by the Spirit can do.

More precisely, Job shows us that we can stand up to God and live.  He shows us that we can call even God to account and survive the encounter.

Indeed, Job shows us that we can not only survive the encounter but that we can come out of it so valued and adored by God that God would work miracles just to keep us around.  God would even save us from the ashes to ensure our eternal presence and loving rivalry.

Job is great, pure and simply, because he reveals the full glory of humankind.  He shows what those of us who are made of dust can do and he proves that some of us are worth saving from the ash heap.  That we can equal and perhaps even surpass the Almighty in wisdom and power.

Why is the book of Job so great?  Because it reveals even greater mysteries than Job. 

Perhaps the greatest mystery of all is that we are called by God to do what Job does.  That we are made to stand up and fight in the search of goodness and truth.  To call even God to account if needbe.

What is it that God declares to Job from the storm?  "Gird your loins like a man!"

God doesn't say this to knock Job down but to raise him up.  God is calling Job to fulfill his calling as a human being and to image God.

So let us do likewise in memory of Job.

Let us show God what we are made of.

Thanks be to Job.

Learning from Leviathan

I was watching a Nature special the other night on ocean mammals. Grey whales in their ancestral breeding grounds once did ferocious battle with the whalers who would come there. They even earned the name "devil fish" because they fought so hard against their human hunters. (Anyone who has read Moby Dick or chapter 41 of the book of Job should be well aware of this history.)

But here is the remarkable thing: Some time after whaling was prohibited, although still within the same generation of whales that were hunted, the creatures became extremely gentle and open toward their human visitors. They would come up by the boats, look people in the eye, and invite contact with them and their babies. It was quite a moving display in the show, watching people hug and kiss these great beasts. Watching these great beasts revel in the bonds of kinship that no amount of violence could ever destroy.

It led me (and the investigators) to wonder: Was it because the whales are stupid and forgot that they re-emerged from the depths so gently? Was it time that eventually healed their wounds and changed their hearts? Was it an act of perfect forgiveness on the part of the whales?

Whatever the case may be, I believe that we see the healing process at work in this example.  What we learn from these Leviathans whether they realize it or not is that the first step to healing is to stop the violence, just as the whaling operations ceased.  The second step is to then put ourselves out there, no matter how ashamed we may be, no matter how vulnerable we may be by doing so.  The third and final step is to then patiently abide, until those that we have hurt are willing to surface once again, and to do so in a new beginning and fresh start.

What we above all learn from these Leviathans is that there will never be a relationship of trust and mutual prosperity until we are naked together.  It is only in and through this embrace where we clothe each other that there is life and healing.  A relationship no longer wounded by the past.

Thanks be to Job.